Shoe-tie holder



(No Model.)

(hfnesses J. 0. BYRNS.

SHOE TIB HOLDER.

Patented Sept. 2, 1890.

mfenor.

games. P115; je?, Mfg/ 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEECE.

JAMES O. BYRNS, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

SHOE-TIE HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 435,392, dated September 2, 1890.

i Application filed September 16, 1889- Serial No. 324,013. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES O. BYRNS, of St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe-Tie Holders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in devices designed to engage and secure the knotted tie of a shoe so as to hold the same in shape and prevent its becoming loosened or untied, While at the same time serving as an ornamental attachment to the shoe; and it consists, generally,in the construction and combination hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure l is a frontelevation of a shoe fitted with my improved tie holder. Figs. 2 and 3 are respectively front and rear eleva-tions of the holder. Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-section of the same, and Fig. 5 is a front elevation of a modified form.

In the drawings, 2 represents a laced shoe, and 3 its string or lace, knotted in the ordinary manner. This knot is shown secured together by means of the holder A. This holder is formed of spring sheet metal-such as brass-` and may be plated with any metal desired or japanned to give it an ornamental inish. It is formed U-shaped in longitudinal crosssection, the members being parallel with each other. The upper member 4 is formed as an ornamental plate, and is adapted to rest upon the top of the knot and to give it an attractive finish. The under member 6 is narrower or tongue-shaped that it may be more easily slipped under the knot, the two members being of sufficient distance apart to allowa knotV to be passed between them readily.

In order to assist the holder in clinging to the knot, and thus keeping it compressed, I prefer in some cases to arrange a central opening or socket 5 in the plate 4 and a slight projection 7 upon the member 6 directly opposite the opening. The knot of the tie when clasped by the holder will thus be pressed by the projection against the edges of the opening 5, which will serve as an obstacle to prevent the holder from slipping od the knot. Slight projections or points 8 may also be arranged at the edge of the opening 5 to press into and engage the knot of the tie, and thus assist in the holding of the knot in its position. The tongue is made slightly longer than the plate, so that its point may be the more easily inserted under the knot in the applying of the holder, and the point of the tongue, as well as the outer edge of the plate, may be given a slight outward turn to prevent their catching upon the fabric of the tie. The holder is applied to the knot and tie by simply inserting the pointof the tongue underneath the tie from above and crowding it downward, the plate passing over and resting upon the top of the knot, the projections upon the members of the holder serving to keep it in place upon the knot. The holder may be removed by wed ging the end of the linger under the lower edge of the plate, so as to raise it slightly from the knot, the holder then being pressed upward to force it from the tie.

I claim as my invention-- A shoe-tie holder composed of the two parallel members formed from a single piece of spring metal, one member having an opening or depression therein with points extending rearwardly from around said opening and the other member having a projection thereon opposite the opening in its parallel member and having an open space, as shown, between it and the rear face of the front member, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 9th day ot September` 1889.

JAMES O. BYRNS. In presence of- T. D. MERWIN,

S. W. ROBERTS. 

